Chris Goodall, a leading environmentalist, has calculated that walking does more damage to our planet than driving due to carbon emissions that cause global warming.

He has established that driving a typical UK car for 3 miles (about 4.8km) introduces about 0.9 kg (about 2 lbs) of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Walking the same distance would use about 180 calories. Replacing those calories takes about 100g of meat which results in 3.6kg of emissions.

Based on his calculations, walking produces four times more carbon dioxide compared to driving. Even if the person were to replace those calories through another means such as milk, the amount needed will produce an equivalent of 1.2kg of CO2, .3Kg more than a car.

Goodall explained the underlying problem saying that "we need to become accustomed to the idea that our food production systems are equally damaging." To further stress this point, he cited cows and the fact they produce more carbon emissions than airplanes. He then points out that this doesn't mean we should stop walking altogether, what we need to do is "to work out how to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of our foodstuffs."

Goodall noted that an ideal diet would consist of cereals and pulses which is a route only a vegan would take. He suggested that there are other ways we can reduce our carbon footprint such as not buying anything from the supermarket.